Lands Without Trust: Haven in the Thunder
by pixelated-moo
Summary: When an indestructible foe wreaks havoc among the Clans, one queen must make a sacrifice and go on a journey to find its origins. Please R&R! Thanks!
1. Allegiances

CHAPTER TWO

_**BREEZECLAN**_

**Leader: **Dentstar – White tom with blue eyes

_Nine lives_

**Deputy: **Watertail – Gray and white tabby she-cat with blue eyes

**Medicine Cat: **Vinefoot – Black-and-white tom with jade green eyes**  
Warriors: **x**  
Elders: **x**  
Queens: **x**  
Apprentices: **x**  
Kits: **x

_**MOSSCLAN**_

**Leader: **Woodstar – Brown tabby tom with dull green eyes

_One life_

**Deputy: **Lustheart – Ginger and white tom with brown eyes

**Medicine Cat: **Streamback – Gray and brown tabby tom with blue eyes

_Apprentice: Dalepaw_**  
Warriors: **x**  
Elders: **x**  
Queens: **x**  
Apprentices: **Dalepaw – Light brown and white tom with yellow eyes**  
Kits: **x

_**WILLOWCLAN**_

**Leader: **Reedstar – Brown she-cat with yellow eyes and a shredded ear

_Five lives_

**Deputy: **Lionpelt – Deep golden tom with amber eyes

_Mate: Havenpool; Kits: Restingkit, Sunkit_

**Medicine Cat: **Mapleleaf – White she-cat with amber eyes

_Siblings: Bluefeather, Storkleg, Havenpool_**  
Warriors: **Bluefeather – Blue-gray she-cat with blue eyes

_Siblings: Storkleg, Mapleleaf, Havenpool_

Storkleg – White tom with amber eyes

_Mate: Fleckface; Siblings: Bluefeather, Mapleleaf, Havenpool_**  
Elders: **x**  
Queens: **Havenpool – Blue-gray she-cat with blue eyes

_Siblings: Bluefeather, Storkleg, Mapleleaf; Mate: Lionpelt; Kits: Restingkit, Sunkit_

Fleckface – Black tortoiseshell she-cat with amber eyes

_Mate: Storkleg; Kits: Powderkit, Chastekit, Lightkit, Pyrekit, Gravelkit_**  
Apprentices: **x**  
Kits: **Restingkit – Silver she-kit with amber eyes

_Sibling: Sunkit_

Sunkit – Bright golden and white tom with blue eyes

_Sibling: Restingkit_

Powderkit – Black-and-white she-kit with amber eyes

_Siblings: Chastekit, Lightkit, Pyrekit, Gravelkit_

Pyrekit – Mottled tom with amber eyes

_Siblings: Chastekit, Lightkit, Powderkit, Gravelkit_

Chastekit – Amber-eyed silver she-kit with black ears

_Siblings: Pyrekit, Lightkit, Powderkit, Gravelkit_

Gravelkit – Gray and white tom with amber eyes

_Siblings: Chastekit, Lightkit, Powderkit, Pyrekit_

Lightkit – White she-kit with amber eyes

_Siblings: Chastekit, Gravelkit, Powderkit, Pyrekit_

_**SPORECLAN**_

**Leader: **Jemstar – Light gray she-cat with bright yellow eyes

_Eight lives_

**Deputy: **Sparkleflight – Silver and gray tortoiseshell she-cat with green eyes

**Medicine Cat: **Furysong – Calico she-cat with hard blue-gray eyes**  
Warriors: **x**  
Elders: **x**  
Queens: **x**  
Apprentices: **x**  
Kits: **x


	2. Prologue

**PROLOGUE**

A loud bang sounded through the forest, followed by a roar that could rival one of the strongest members of LionClan. The creature collapsed on the ground. Next to it, a smaller version of it nudged the larger one in worry. It did not stir. After a long while of grunting, growling, and roaring, desperately trying to wake the creature up, the smaller being left the scene.

For a long time it wandered, living on scraps of meat and plants, unable to hunt. Over time, it grew larger and larger and learned to attack for food. Nomadic, it continued its journey. In the winter, instinct told it to sleep in a cave until spring. It spent the rest of the year stocking up on food and living entirely on instinct, for its mother had been killed before she could teach it all the survival skills it needed to know.


	3. Havenpool and Lionpelt's Kits

**CHAPTER ONE**

Mewling erupted from the nursery, letting Lionpelt know that his kits had arrived. Awkwardly, the deputy sat outside the sheltered den and asked, "How is she?"

A startled medicine cat looked up. "Oh! Lionpelt!" Of course, she should have expected the new litter's father.

"I'm sorry. Was I interrupting anything?"

"Not at all. Come in, come in. The process was a success. Havenpool is just fine, and she has given birth to two healthy kits."

Eagerly, he ducked into the den, only to see a gray queen curled around two small scraps. One had silver fur, while the larger one next to it was golden and white. With soft blue eyes, Havenpool looked up at her mate, who purred and nuzzled her side, careful to take heed of the delicate kits. Mapleleaf stepped aside and gave them some time together before asking, "They're beautiful kits. Have you named them?"

Havenpool averted her eyes to look at her sister. "The silver one is Restingkit. The golden one… He is Lionpelt's to name."

Lionpelt was not expecting to name a kit; that privilege was often left for the mother alone. "Uh…" He shifted his paws. Naming was harder than it looked. The kit had fur brighter than his—which had a bit more of a brown hue—and it seemed to have been touched by the sun. "Sunkit," he decided. "The golden one is Sunkit."

Grinning, the medicine cat nodded. "Wonderful. They will be Restingkit, and Sunkit, then. Havenpool, make sure to eat those borage leaves, all right?" Her sister nodded, and Mapleleaf made her way towards the medicine den. Soon, Lionpelt left momentarily as well to fetch some fresh-kill for his mate. When he returned, he carried a thrush in his mouth, fresh, warm, and bloody from the morning patrol's recent catch. In gratitude, she purred and dug into the bird, plucking out the feathers as she went.

Familiar scents drifted into the nursery. "Great StarClan! I'm an uncle!" chimed Havenpool's brother, Storkleg.

"Where are the little beauties? Move, Storkleg!" A she-cat, who could be Havenpool's clone, pushed her brother aside. "Oh, my! What are their names?"  
"Restingkit and Sunkit," Havenpool replied warmly.

"I can't wait until they're made apprentices. I'd like to mentor one of them!"' Storkleg meowed.

"Me neither," purred the mother. "I'm afraid I'll become rusty at hunting and fighting if I stay in the nursery any longer!"

"If you want to stretch your paws any time," her sister put in, "let me know. I'd be happy to care for them."

"I wouldn't do that if I were you, Havenpool. Bluefeather might eat 'em!" Storkleg joked.

Lionpelt, meanwhile, continued to sit silently as the siblings shared tongues. He did not exactly like Storkleg's comment about Bluefeather eating the newborns, but the warrior was known around all four Clans for his jokester personality. When the four brothers and sisters, Havenpool, Mapleleaf, Storkleg, and Bluefeather, were together, he often felt left out. Although he knew it was foolish for the deputy of WillowClan to have such feelings, Lionpelt could not fight the feeling of jealousy. He knew well enough that his mate had a stronger bond with her siblings that she had with him. They had her love from birth, while he only had her love for a couple moons now. How would it be different, he thought, if he had been her brother? They would not have their kits, but he would still be with Havenpool. Kits were a sacrifice he would be willing to make, for the deputy did not have the same strong bond that a mother has with her children.


	4. Five Dreams During the Half Moon

**CHAPTER TWO**

_Sunset approached the forest, and_ Mapleleaf headed towards the BreezeClan border. Traveling straight through the rival Clan's territory would have been far easier, but, even though she was a medicine cat, one could never be too careful.

She soon spotted the MossClan medicine cat, Streamback, and his quick-mouthed apprentice, Dalepaw. The she-cat could see the effort in Streamback's every lope. He had been medicine cat when she had been just a kit. Even though he should have become an elder by then, he refused to leave his position. Part of this stubbornness probably came from the fact that Dalepaw still needed training. While he had already mastered herbs and interpreting dreams, the warrior-aged apprentice did not have the kind tenderness of a medicine cat. Physically, he was a medicine cat, but, mentally, he was a warrior. He became upset whenever Streamback held him back from fights, and he cared too little about truce between medicine cats.

Soon, they came across the Moonstump, where Vinefoot and Furysong, the medicine cats of BreezeClan and SporeClan, were already chatting quietly while waiting for the other medicine cats. After exchanging greetings, they all lay on the large stump and slept, while the warriors of StarClan shined down on them.

That night, all five medicine cats from all four Clans had dreams that, as they would later find, connect. In Mapleleaf's dream, the she-cat found herself in a dark forest. The sky was dark and hidden by eerie gray clouds. Thunder roared, startling her, and furious rain caused small, shallow pools of water in the ground here and there. "Mapleleaf!" Suddenly, she heard a cat call her name and turned around to see a black tomcat sheltered in a cave. Seeking someplace dry, away from the rain and thunder, she dashed over without a second thought.

"I am Hiddenstar, the previous leader of WillowClan." His voice was rushed, like he had little time to tell her what he needed to say. "Mapleleaf, you must find the haven in the thunder."

"What?" the she-cat inquired.

But the tom had already started to fade away. "_Find the haven in the thunder!_" his voice echoed. It was the last thing she heard before waking up. When she rose on her paws, Dalepaw cut off whatever he was saying and looking awkwardly at the WillowClan she-cat. "What is it?" Mapleleaf asked.

"Nothing that you need to know about!" he spat. "It's not something for the likes of WillowClan!"

Streamback cuffed him with a paw. "You needn't be so rude! Mapleleaf won't tell her Clan about MossClan's business."

"What's all this ruckus?" Vinefoot had woken up, followed by Furysong.

"But Vinefoot and Furysong might," Dalepaw hissed into his mentor's ear.  
"No, they won't. Medicine cats keep promises between themselves, and they have no care about the weakness or strength of another Clan," Streamback told him sharply before turning to the other medicine cats. "I had… a dream. I saw a humongous brown creature—larger than a Twoleg, even!" Gasps rose from his audience. "Cats were attacking from all sides, but it batted them away effortlessly with one of its claws. And it's every roar, every time its claws met the earth, it made a sound that sounded like thunder."Gasping, Furysong leapt onto four paws from her previous laying position. "Oh, my! What a strange dream, indeed! I had a StarClan warrior tell me, 'Beware of claws like thunder!'"

"Dalepaw!" Streamback exclaimed. When the apprentice replied with a disrespectful, "What?" the elderly medicine cat continued, "Tell them about your dream."

"Okay, okay! You don't have to be so pushy," he spat. _When I have an apprentice, I hope he or she isn't going to be anything like Dalepaw! _Mapleleaf thought. "Some cat just told me, 'You must not be reckless and charge into battle without your head.' That's so dumb! What's that supposed to mean anyways?"

"That's simple," Vinefoot now spoke. "It means that you should have a strategy before you fight." He ignored the apprentice's scoff. "In my dream, I was told, 'Strength comes in numbers, and four must become one." He turned his head to the WillowClan medicine cat. "Mapleleaf, you've been quiet."

"StarClan told me…" The dream replayed her mind. "To find the haven in the thunder," the she-cat finished.

"That's quite an obscure dream," Furysong murmured. "Streamback, you have the most experience out of all of us. Do you know what it might mean?"

"I've not a clue, I'm afraid. However, I do think that all these dreams are connected. The word 'thunder' seems to occur often. I say it's best to return home now. If anyone sees anything peculiar, let the other medicine cats know immediately."

"What?" Dalepaw gawked. "We can't just wait and watch! This 'Thunder Claws' thing could be attacking MossClan right now!"

"What else can we do?" Mapleleaf contradicted. "At the moment, we don't have enough information. Just tell your Clans to keep their senses sharp. ." The medicine cats—excluding Dalepaw—passed a murmur of agreement, and the meeting came to a close.

_Find the haven in the thunder. Find the haven in the thunder._ During the long trek back to WillowClan, the prophecy would not leave Mapleleaf alone. She was almost positive that the thunder was the same thunder in the dreams of Streamback and Furysong. To find the haven, did she have to go somewhere? To find someplace that the cats could hide from this thunder? There was her sister Havenpool, but she doubted that meant anything. Would StarClan really expect a queen with kits to do something against the terrifying beast in Streamback's dream?


	5. A Lack of FreshKill

**CHAPTER THREE**

_Sunlight beat down on Havenpool's_ gray fur, warming her all the way to her skin underneath. Lionpelt's golden pelt was the first thing that came to her mind. Mewing the tom's name quietly, she tried reaching out, realizing she was in the nursery only when the two tiny bundles at her belly squirmed. Oh, how she missed the warrior's den, to be sleeping by Lionpelt, Storkleg, Bluefeather, and all the other familiar face. But currently her duty was to her kits instead of to provide food and fight for her Clan. Growling at her stupidity, she gently licked the now-waking golden and silver scraps. At two days old, they were helpless and could do little else besides suckle and sleep. She knew it was up to her as their mother to protect them and never leave them no matter what.

A yawn sounded behind her. "Fleckface, I'm sorry. Did I wake you?" Havenpool mewed.

"Of course not," the tortoiseshell insured. "How are your kits?"

"Oh, a pawful! I didn't know they needed so much commitment," she purred, sounding good-natured but slightly exasperated.

"At least you only have two!" Fleckface gestured with her tail to a litter of five kits by her belly then let out a sigh. "Havenpool, I'm so worried! Powderkit's still sick. I've already lost one of my kits; I don't know what I'll do if she goes, too."

Having two kits was worrisome enough, while being born into a litter of four sometimes got on her nerves with all her siblings pestering her; Havenpool could not imagine how the other queen must have felt. Though she knew it was improbable for all the kits in a litter of six to live to apprenticehood, she rested her tail on her black-pelted shoulder. "Do not worry. But you should check with Mapleleaf again as soon as Powderkit wakes." Nodding solemnly, Fleckface laid her head back down and shut her amber eyes.

Through the queen's murmuring, her kits had woken up. With their mother having closed her eyes, she appeared asleep to the inexperienced youngsters, so they decided it was best to pester the already awake Havenpool instead.

"Havenpool!" Four-moon-old Pyrekit hopped away from his mother, midnight fur ruffled after sleeping. "When are Restingkit and Sunkit going to be able to play?"  
"When? When? When?" squealed his sister, Chastekit.

Before Havenpool could let out more than an amused purr, Fleckface opened one eye and softly pushed Pyrekit closer with a paw. "Stop bothering Havenpool and her kits. Restingkit and Sunkit will never want to play with you if you don't let them rest." The foursome (Powderkit was still asleep, despite all the noise) continued whining, while their mother had to quiet them and scold them. Although Havenpool would never admit to saying something so rude, the kits of her brother and Fleckface were atrociously loud and, more or less, annoying.

Now that her other kits were awake, the black-furred queen nuzzled Powderkit awake. "Havenpool, could you please watch the other trouble-makers for me?" After Havenpool nodded, Fleckface thanked her and led Powderkit to the medicine den.

Upon her mother's leave, Lightkit immediately mewed, "Havenpool, could we have some fresh-kill?"

"Yeah!" Gravelkit piped in. "Even though we're old enough, Fleckface doesn't give it to us often."

Chastekit's voice was a whisper. "Not since Rootkit choked." Pyrekit nudged his sister sharply, reminding her that they were not supposed to talk about their brother. All of Fleckface's kits were unusually small due to the lack of solid food in their diet, but, unbelievably, Rootkit had been tinier than all his siblings and sicklier than Powderkit. Even though it had been a miniscule, chewed up piece, he had choked on his first piece of fresh-kill. Fleckface and Mapleleaf both had been unable to save him. (Unfortunately, the Clan had been at a loss of yarrow at the time.)

Knowing that they would not be able to grow into strong warriors without the proper diet, Havenpool pitied the kits, yet, at the same time, did not want to go against their mother's will. "I'm sorry, but if Fleckface does not want you to have any, I cannot give it to you."Sighs and whines erupted from the young foursome. _However, _she added silently with a small sigh of her own, _I'll have to ask Mapleleaf to speak with your mother. This can't go on._

* * *

"How's Powderkit?"

"I think she'll get better, but she's very fragile. It seems that feverfew had no affect on her, so now I'm trying catnip," Mapleleaf replied, tail tip twitching. The atmosphere was tense, and she could sense that her sister was worried about more than just Powderkit. "Havenpool, is there something you want to talk to me about?"

"You were always reading our minds, back then when we were young." Havenpool purred. Tail curled around her paws in a relaxed manner, she dipped her head back a bit, taking a moment to inhale the sweet aroma of the medicine den. "It's Fleckface's kits—not just Powderkit. Remember when Rootkit, uh..."

Letting her sister know she understood and sparing her from continuing, Mapleleaf nodded. "How can I forget?" she meowed, her voice suddenly heavy with grief. "I was so upset after that; I doubted myself... I wasn't able to save him."

Sympathetic, Havenpool stretched out her tail to rest it on the medicine cat's shoulder and told her, "No cat blames you, Mapleleaf. But Fleckface does seem… paranoid about his death. Her kits are four moons old, and she does not feed them any fresh-kill. Surely you've noticed something. They're so small, and I wouldn't be surprised if their lack of proper nutrition has anything to do with Powderkit being so sickly. You're the medicine cat, so she will listen to you. Please talk some sense into that she-cat, or all her kits will become weak!"

Mapleleaf agreed, and the sisters walked back to the nursery together. Fortunately, Fleckface's kits were taking a nap. Upon their arrival, the queen twitched her ears and softly urged Restingkit and Sunkit towards their mother. Slightly awkwardly, Havenpool lay down by her kits—who squirmed towards her, sensing milk. Although she closed her eyes, she was fully aware of what was going around her.

The medicine cat did not want it to seem that Havenpool had tattled on Fleckface and, instead, had just explained an innocent concern. She began, "Fleckface, I was talking to Havenpool earlier, as you know, about Powderkit. She was very worried, and together we noticed that your other kits are rather small for their age as well. I'm just wondering: are they having enough solid food?" she inquired, trying to keep her voice as curious as possible.

"Yes..." Speaking to a medicine cat, a communicant of StarClan, Fleckface had to be honest. Peeking for a second, Havenpool saw her looking guiltily at her paws. "They always pick up bugs off the ground when they think I'm not looking. Sometimes they eat the bugs…. The times when I'm not fast enough to stop them from doing so."

"I see." Havenpool could picture her sister frowning a bit. "Well, if they don't get proper nutrition, they will all end up like Powderkit."

"But… Rootkit!" Fleckface insisted, her voice distraught.

"Yes, I know," came the medicine cat's soft, sad reply. There was a pause; she was probably comforting the queen. "I assure you, it will not happen again. If it makes you feel better, you can chew up fresh-kill into small pieces before giving it to your kits. As they grow older, give them larger and larger chunks. I expect that each of them can eat a whole piece of fresh-kill by the time they're given mentors.

"I don't want your kits to be too weak, or they'll be delayed as apprentices." She thought for a moment. "Traveling herbs would do nicely. They're usually taken to build up strength for long journeys, but I suppose they won't hurt in this case. I want you to feed your kits small amounts of traveling herbs every day until I tell you to stop. Hold on, I'll go fetch you some." Mapleleaf's voice faded, and Havenpool thought she heard her remark, "At this rate, I'm going to need an apprentice, or half my time will be used up searching for traveling herbs!"

* * *

A/N: I'm not sure when kits start eating fresh-kill in Clans, but they're usually weaned within one and two months of birth in real life.

Also, this is pretty much a filler chapter. More suspense will come soon, I promise!

I need motivation to write. Reviews are much appreciated. c:


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